NBA Players’ Union Asks Judge to Throw Out League’s Lawsuit

Nov. 2 (Bloomberg) -- The union representing National
Basketball Association players asked a judge to dismiss a league
lawsuit seeking to have a court declare that its player lockout
doesn’t violate antitrust law.

The NBA sued the National Basketball Players Association in
August, claiming the union was threatening to use antitrust
litigation to extract better terms in contract talks.

At a hearing in Manhattan federal court today, a lawyer for
the union asked a judge to throw the case out, claiming there’s
no legal conflict for him to determine at this stage.

“They’re asking you to do something unprecedented and
inappropriate, and you should respectfully decline,” Jeffrey
Kessler told U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe.

The hearing came a day after the NBA season was scheduled
to begin. NBA Commissioner David Stern last week announced that
a breakdown in negotiations between the two sides had forced the
league to cancel all of the games scheduled for November. The
move means the NBA will have a shortened season for only the
second time in its 66-year history.

The league and the players’ union started mediated talks on
Oct. 18 to end the lockout.

Jeffrey Mishkin, a lawyer for the NBA, defended the
league’s request for a declaration from the court.

‘Concrete Dispute’

The NBA claims in its suit that the union has threatened on
more than two dozen occasions to give up its role as the
exclusive bargaining representative of league players.

A so-called decertification can pave the way for antitrust
claims against the league, such as those filed by National
Football League players after their labor talks broke down in
March.

“It’s like taking a loaded gun and putting it on the
table,” Mishkin argued, referring to the union’s actions.

“If they’re putting a gun on the table, it’s not clear
they have any bullets in it,” Gardephe answered.

The two sides are discussing how to split money from a
league that had about $4.3 billion in revenue last season. Stern
has said the league’s 30 teams collectively lost at least
$300 million in each of the past three seasons.

The case is National Basketball Association v. National
Basketball Players Association, 11-cv-05369, U.S. District
Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).